Brydge, the ultimate iPad keyboard

There are many keyboards that has been made for the iPad but none comes close to what you can say is the “one”. Either the keyboard is flimsy, thin, or doesn’t give the tactile feedback for that “real keyboard experience”, or it may cheapen the look of a premium Apple product.

Not until we saw The Brydge. A keyboard that looked like it was made by Apple for the iPad (works with 2 and 3). A keyboard that can truly make your iPad look like a MacBook. This is how a keyboard dock for the iPad should be made.

Check out their video.

The Brydge is a full-sized aerospace-grade aluminum keyboard machined and anodized to precisely match the look and feel of the iPad. The keyboard has a full QWERTY layout with additional hotkeys for specific iPad functions.

It has a patent-pending click-in hinge made of metal alloys and magnets with a thermoplastic elastomer shell to secure your iPad. So secure that you can even hold it from the iPad and shake it without the keyboard falling off. When hinged, you can position your iPad close to 180 degrees of positioning. And just like those Smart Covers, once closed, both the iPad and Brydge goes to sleep.

Brydge communicates via Bluetooth and has a lithium-ion battery that charges via microUSB. And no, it cannot power or charge your iPad (no wires remember?). The Brydge team said that a single charge can last you several months unless you opted for the version that comes with a built-in speaker.

Brydge is a KickStarter product which started back in April and the funding was met early June. Production is underway and they’re accepting pre-orders over at their website with the first batch arriving on October 2012. Brydge costs $170 and the version with the speakers costs $210.

For those who use their iPad to type a lot, investing on The Brydge shouldn’t be a hard decision.

While the Brydge has not yet been released for distribution, there is actually an almost similar anodized aluminum keyboard known as the “Sharksucker M6″, which has a very good quality and is more affordable, as found in the link below:

I have recently bought a Sharksucker Keyboard for iPad and I am very much pleased that this is much better than the Brydge keyboard in terms of quality and price. The keypad is very responsive, the body is sturdy for being aluminum, and the and the battery has very long life. Here is a more detailed discussion of the item:

I own both. I love the Brydge, but I love the Sharksucker more. It has better quality than the Brydge; the hinge is more sturdy; Sharksucker has more functionality as it can charge my iPad; and it is more affordable. If you look for quality, functionality and affordability, get the Sharksucker.